2010 Kitsap County Fair canning
entries. Photo by Meegan Reid
WSU Kitsap Extension once again is offering a series of food
preservation classes so you can take a taste of that very short
summer into winter.
This time, all classes are from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sundays at the
Silverdale YMCA, and you can
register online. Cost is $95 for all four classes or $35 per
class.
Classes start Oct. 9 with a look at Sassy Salsas. Guess what
you’ll be making.
Next up, on Oct. 16 is “In a Pickle” in which they’ll discuss
the process of fermentation and brining pickles. Participants will
make and take home a quick-make pickle.
On Oct. 23, you can learn how to safely use a pressure cooker to
can low acid foods like vegetables, seafood and meats. In class,
participants will can low-acid vegetables.
Oct. 30 is a look at the variety of ways to preserve apples from
canning it to making pie filling, dehydrating, and making sauces
and ciders. Participants will take home a jar of apple sauce.
Megan Moran pours two beers for
a Tuesday night crowd at Silver City Restaurant and
Brewery.
Brothers Scott and Steve Houmes, sons and grandsons of
restaurateurs and former owners of Top Notch Burger restaurants in
Bremerton and Silverdale, opened Silver City Restaurant and Brewery
in 1996. Last year, Silver City opened its Bremerton brewery to
expand its beer-production capacity and increase restaurant seating
in the space formerly occupied by brewing operations.
As part of my work on Kitsap Sun’s upcoming restaurant guide
(due out in October), I interviewed co-owner Scott Houmes. A
portion of the Q&A will appear in the guide, but Food Life
readers get the full, uncut version. Well, uncut except for the
parts where I didn’t type nearly fast enough (or forgot to type as
I listened) and consequently portions of the conversation were
omitted.
How did you and your brother decide to start a
brewery?
We decided it was a good fit for Kitsap County. It’s something that
we had a passion for as far as the food industry and great craft
beer. We thought at that time that Kitsap County was ready for
it.
How did you meet brewmaster Don Spencer?
We went on a recruiting trip for a brewmaster. We knew that
brewmasters were kind of a brotherhood, so we took a tour of Thomas
Kemper [which formerly brewed in Poulsbo]. We wanted to meet a
brewer and put the word out there. In 1996, they didn’t have
Monster.com or any of those things, so we were doing it the old
fashioned way. … We took a tour with Don Spencer and after the
tour, we took him aside and said this is what we were doing and if
you know anyone, spread the word. Luckily, Don didn’t tell anybody
and we ended up hiring him shortly after that. Being a brewmaster
is a pretty coveted position. He was able to come in and create his
own recipes and styles and brew what he wanted to brew and brew
what Kitsap County would like.
About 50 additional seats have
been placed in the area formerly occupied by the brewing
operation.
How’s business?
Good. We have a good following. We just finished an expansion that
we’ve been working on for the past eight to 10 months. Our business
grew and grew every year since we opened in ’96. In the past five
years, we’d have a waiting a line at the door every week, and we
knew we needed space for more guests and our beer was becoming more
and more popular so we took the brewing operations from the site…
We have a production brewing facility down in in Bremerton and
we’re now distributing our beer throughout Western Washington. We
were able to open 50 more seats for our guests and eliminate the
wait for our tables.
After 15 years, you still have steady business and a
social media following most local businesses could envy. What do
you think has kept Silver City so popular?
I think being a brewpub or this style of restaurant and brewery
lends itself to having more of a neighborhood feel, a place that
the community can call their own. The beer is brewed in the area …
a lot of people have learned about craft beer through Silver City.
It’s not just part of another chain. It’s a locally owned place
that they can feel good about, that’s the first thing. And No. 2,
we have a great staff with a great level of service, second to none
and we offer a great selection of food that you can come and eat in
any attire … with flip-flops or a tie.
You moved brewing operations to Bremerton and expanded
the restaurant in the vacated vat space, how have the changes
gone?
It’s gone over great. It’s given the operation a lot more space for
the guests. The wait time has been reduced and it’s expanded our
brewing capacity. We’re able to produce more seasonal beers on a
consistent basis, give more variety for our gusts and it gives a
better flow for the restaurant. One of the main things our guests
would always comment on was a long wait for a table and it was
cramped quarters in there. …Having people hungry and standing in
line for 45 minutes is not something anybody wants to do.
When are you going to open a tasting room at the
brewery?
That’s a good question. With the growth of the distribution
business, it’s kept me on my toes. We’ve darn near tripled our
production from what we had four years ago, so we’ve been busy with
that and busy with remodeling the restaurant… The type of business
we can open up down here is limited because of lack of parking in
our industrial area. You can’t open a 50- to 60-seat restaurant
with 15 parking spaces, so it will be something more like a tap
room with a lack of food. If we can’t get them someplace to park,
they won’t come.
The biggest excuse is: it’s been a matter of time. We have had
it open for keg sales and bottle sales out of the brewer since the
first of January. We sell between 20 and 30 kegs a weekend.
People can go down there and pick it up?
They can call ahead and order and we make sure its ready nine times
out of 10 for the weekend.
What beers do you have under development?
As in new? We have our year-round beers, our most popular being
Ridgetop Red and the Fat Scotch Ale, our Indianola Pale Ale, the
Panther Lake Porter and our Bavarian Hefeweizen and Whoop Pass
IPA.
We also have beers that we like to have our seasonal beer
rotation and right now, we have our Oktoberfest … We’re one of the
few that brew a traditional Oktoberfest lager. Our next seasonal
lager will be our winter bock, which we’re very excited about.
When will (the winter bock) be out?
That will be out the beginning of November.
Is this the first year for the winter bock?
We brewed it on an annual basis at the brewpub, but now as far as
distribution, this will be our first year.
Our seasonal beer this summer was a Ziggy Zoggy and it was very
successful. It’s a great summer, easy-drinking beer with some honey
notes to it much like a summer pilsner but very sessionable. … I
don’t know if you’ll find that in the dictionary. What we mean is
that you can drink them in succession.
Tell me about menu changes over the years.
Basically the guests have helped determine our menu over the years.
We re-order the fresh sheet on a rotating basis. We bring out new
items on the fresh sheet, an appetizer, several entrees and a
dessert. They coincide with the season. For the fall, we have
bratwurst and schnitzel. In the wintertime, you’re going to have
more of hearty dish and such. With those items, depending on
how well they’re received and how well they sell determines what
goes on the menu in the future.
We can’t just keep adding to the menu, though, to keep the flow
of the kitchen and the restaurant. … Some restaurants just have a
huge menu, and order to do what we do, we keep the food fresh. We
just can’t offer a million different items. … Something like
a schnitzel, where it would be very popular, it won’t go on the
menu because its a fun thing to have every season. It’s nice to
change to the menu, but it’s also hard because people get in the
habit of having their favorite item. … You have to make those tough
decisions.
How do you decide which new beers to
introduce?
They’re all inspired by Don Spencer, our brewmaster. … Throughout
the years, we’ve had up to 40 different styles. We have a small
brewery here called our pilot brewery where we can brew two kegs of
beer at a time, so it can start in that fashion, and we’ll put that
beer on at the pub and see how it’s received. If the brew is
successful, it would evolve into a pub series beer that’s mainly
for the pub. We’ll brew 20 barrels, that’s 40 kegs, and that wil be
on at the pub for four weeks or so. Based on the success of the
beer, not only the sales but how it fits our lineup, will determine
that.
Some beers will be seasonal, but like the restaurant menu, you
can only have so many brews year-round. Our brewery is getting
larger, but it’s not that large.
Do you home brew beer?
No, my brother and I are restaurateurs. Since we opened the new
facility, I’m more of an overseer of the brewing operations and
brewing distribution and he’s more of an overseer of the
restaurant. We come from a family of restaurant owners. Both my
grandfather and father were in the business. My grandfather started
a chain called Kings Table and my father joined it in late ’60s,
early ’70s. They were part of growing it all along the West
Coast.
What’s your favorite beer and food pairing?
My favorite, let’s see here. I would have to say my favorite
pairing is a Ridgetop Red with our firecracker wings because a red
is nice and sweet with nice caramel notes, and not overpowering,
and the firecracker wings have a spicy ginger and garlic to it.
Most wings are just spicy, but with ginger and garlic to our wings,
its very unique. The spiciness slows me down so i don’t eat too
much.
Tell me about the best beer you’ve ever had and why it
was so memorable.
That’s a tough question … I’ve come to appreciate every beer for
its own style. I used to be a real hop-head and say nothing was
good unless it was an IPA or Double IPA, but the longer I’m in this
business, the more I appreciate the number of styles there are and
the number of flavors there are. My next favorite beer is the beer
I haven’t had yet, and I’m going to ponder over.
What’s next for Silver City?
A lot of people have encouraged us to grow over the years. They
say, ‘Open a restaurant in my town’ up and down the Kitsap
Peninsula down to Gig Harbor and up to Port Townsend and Sequim.
Growing up in this business. … What it takes is time away from our
family and time away from a lot of our restaurants and it turns
into a big battle. This business is hard enough as it is with one
restaurant and one brewery. … We’re more content with ensuring our
business in Bremerton and Silverdale do what we say we’re going to
do as far as having great operations, great food and great beer
rather than grow it and expand operations. We’re planning on making
Silver City as good as it’s ever been if not better.
For this week’s food news roundup, I thought I’d serve up a few
ideas for food-inspired day trips this weekend.
Lavender on the Tongue
As part of this year’s Sequim Lavender festivals, a new one
called Lavender Farm Faire has been added, an it includes a
culinary
program with food, crafts and cooking demonstrations at
Carrie Blake Park (click for a Google map). The festival
started Friday, but goes through Sunday.
Five cooking demonstrations will happen Sunday, though Sunshine
Lavender and Herb Farm will host several a day today and Saturday.
Among what’s cooking will be a four-course meal made by Cedarbook
Lavender and Herb Farm with a spring green and asparagus salad with
cranberry lavender vinaigrette, roasted red potatoes with Herbs de
Provence (with lavender, of course), grilled flank steak with
lavender pepper marinade and sautéed pears with lavender honey.
Farms also will offer lavender-laced (and non-lavender) foods
throughout the fair. The wine and beer garden also will offer a
taste of Olympic Cellars’ lavender infused wine Mélange Nouveau.
Purple Haze restaurant will have a variety of food and lavender
cocktails (margaritas and cosmopolitans).
Across the water on the other side of Kitsap this weekend is the
annual Bite of
Seattle at the Seattle Center.
For those who’ve in the past grown tired of going and getting
filled up on only one giant plate of taste (or bursting at the
seems when you try to top off two plates with a
Shishkaberry), this year’s festival requires participating
restaurants to have actual bite-sized portions for $3.75, the
Seattle Weekly reports.
Over at the Fisher Building, local celebrity chefs will offer
near-hourly demonstrations for
The Bite Cooks portion of the festival. And in the Alki
courtyard, for $10, you can get into
The Alley, hosted by Tom Douglas for tastes from both
established and new Seattle restaurants. Most proceeds from the
Alley benefit Food Lifeline, so you can feed your soul a little as
well.
Strawberry Festival
Vashon Island is home to a festival more than a century old
(though it apparently has had several names over the years). The
Strawberry
Festival has a variety of vendors, like those you’d see at a
variety of small-town festivals, including booths with strawberry
shortcakes, smoothies, and chocolate-dipped strawberries. The
weekend festival also includes what I’ve decided should be a
requisite at any festival, an early morning pancake breakfast (with
strawberries!). A shuttle leaves every 30 minutes from the ferry
terminal. It’s $1 each way.
Pike Place Chef Demos
On Sunday, Pike Place Market hosts another of its
Sunday chef demonstrations with Burce Naftalay of Le Gourmand
at noon and Seth Caswell of emmer & rye at 2 p.m. Next Sunday is
the second annual “Master of the Market” cooking competition.
Note on next weekend
The brewer
lineup for Bremerton’s Summer Brewfest on July 23 was announced
this week. The event will include 24 breweries, including Kitsap’s
half dozen commercial breweries.
The same day (or maybe before) also is supposed to mark the
opening of Bremerton’s Toro
Lounge on Pacific Avenue.
And lastly, as I just mentioned earlier this afternoon, Sunday
will be the inaugural
Sunday farmers market in Bremerton.
Just a note
I apparently missed this when it went online in late May, but
Bremerton’s Blackberry fest apparently got
a nod from New York Magazine, which compiled a list of 50 food
destinations in 50 states. They recommended the blackberry slugs
and had this to say in general, “devotees can head to a three-day
orgy of blackberry consumption: the Bremerton Blackberry Festival,
held along the boardwalk in downtown Bremerton — a smallish Navy
town southwest of Bainbridge Island on Puget Sound.” I pity the
poor New Yorkers who’ll take the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge
and drive 50 minutes to Bremerton. Hopefully someone at the
terminal will point them the right way.
Bremerton will have a Sunday farmers market on the boardwalk
near the fairy
ferry terminal starting July 24.
The Bremerton Farmers Market association
announced the extra market Thursday.
Unlike the second market two years ago created after a market
leadership disagreement, this new market is born of an attempt
to liven up the city on Sundays and will be run by the same
organization that runs the Thursday market at Evergreen Park.
Bremerton farmers market organizers were approached by city
council members after Bremerton and Port Orchard
agreed to run foot ferries on Sundays, said market manager
Julia Zander.
Bremerton’s Thursday market has been growing with more vendors
making more than last year and greater attendance (particularly on
sunny days), Zander said.
Market leaders also have been working with the port and business
associations. Bremerton councilman Roy Runyon offered to pay half
the market’s insurance fee out of his own pocket, she said. The
market association is working on securing funding for the second
half.
“We think there’s a lot of momentum,” she said. “People are
really excited about this.”
The market plans to run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and will be the
only formal farmers market on Sundays in Kitsap County. The
market’s last day will be Sept. 25.
It seems all manner of pretty produce and other things have
begun to appear at farmers markets. I snapped a little cell phone
shot after seeing such a pretty cake from Bon
Bon Bakery at the Bremerton market on Thursday, and I realize
that I can’t be the only one so visually stimulated by market
scenes.
I’d love to see what others have seen at the markets or will see
this weekend (hint, hint). I’ll put some of the best photos in an
upcoming blog post to share with others and on the farmers
market map. E-mail them to me at angela@angeladice.com.
I learned from the
Washington Beer Blog that on Saturday, Port Townsend will host
a Summer Cider Day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Fort Worden.
Seattle’s Chinatown/International District’s Dragon Fest this
year will include a food walk with $2 tastes from restaurants like
Sea Garden, Fuji Bakery, Fu-lin Ramen House and Dim Sum King. Try
four tastes and get
a card punched to be entered for a drawing.
Beer
For the local beer lovers out there: Valhöll Brewing in Poulsbo
has two new brews, a Poulsbo Pale Ale and a Belgian ale infused
with lavender. Sound Brewery announced that it’s Monk’s
Indiscretion, a Belgian ale, won a gold medal at the U.S. Open Beer Championships. And
Slippery Pig started work recently on a Nasturtium Saison with herbs.
Cooking Club
A group of professional and amateur chefs in West Seattle takes
their love of cooking social with a regular recipe-sharing potluck.
Read more about it in the
West Seattle Blog. I’ve heard of a similar group in Kitsap, and
I’m told that members of the Kitsap Mycological Society
regularly share ways to cook up those freshly hunted mushrooms. I’d
love to hear of any other local examples.
Fishy fish:
According to a UW Tacoma study by biology students, that wild
Pacific salmon you order in a restaurant may not be what it claims
to be. According to
a (Tacoma) News Tribune story, “More than 38 percent of
restaurant samples tested by students in the UWT’s introductory
biology classes were mislabeled.” Most of those restaurants were in
Pierce County.
Ahhhh
The Accidental Hedonist blogger offered a lovely little
ode to the aroma of coffee that then forced me to go pour
myself a cup.
The Washington State
University Kitsap Extension’s Small Farms Team this week will
kick off a series of classes dubbed “Hip Homesteading” to teach
skills from jam and pickle making to home brewed beer. (Mmmm
beer.)
All but the homebrewing class will be taught at Silverdale
Community Center, 9729 Silverdale Way. Cost is $35 per class ($50
per family). 4H and FFA youth are free.
The first class starts Thursday from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. with a
lesson in using some of the season’s fresh berries to make jam.
Bring an apron and a sack lunch.
For more information on this and other classes, contact Shannon
Harkness at 360-337-7026.
Here is a list of other classes coming this month:
Cheesemaking: Monday, July 11 6 p.m. to 9
p.m.
Homebrewing: Thursday, July 14 6 p.m. to 9
p.m., at the
Slippery Pig Brewery, 795 NW Finn Hill Road, Poulsbo
Hot Summer Nights Farmwalk: Monday, July 18 6
p.m. to 8 p.m., at Red Barn Farm/Wyckels Farm on Central Valley
Poulsbo market goers will be able to buy local goods through
December.
The Poulsbo Farmers Market association announced last week that
they would remain open through Dec. 17, and likely will open
earlier next year, said market manager Brian Simmons.
The market this year already had opened earlier than in years
past on April 9.
“We’ve been talking about it for quite a while now,” Simmons
said.
The market also has been
in talks with the city and the Port of Poulsbo to gain support
for a covered, permanent location for a year-round farmers market
in Poulsbo.
Thus far, no decisions have been made on that front.
“We can’t pay retail rent … we need a special situation,”
Simmons said.
Which can be a tough sell in this economy. But Simmons said some
ideas being floated include a structure that could be used as
shopper-friendly covered parking when the market isn’t open.
For now, the market is focused on being open for 10 months out
of the year, Simmons said.
This autumn, the market will remain at the spot at Seventh
Avenue and Iverson Street.
Market organizers are discussing ways to modify the site to make
shopping easier on cold and rainy days, perhaps by clustering tents
or offering a heated tent to offer shoppers relief.
The late market is likely to be smaller, Simmons said, and it
may open later as daylight hours wane.
With an early heads-up, participating farmers may have time to
sow cool-weather crops such as spinach, kales and chard, onions
potatoes and winter squashes.
Since fall is slaughter season, the market also hopes to draw
meat vendors.
And crafters and people who make preserved goods also will have
a chance to sell wares as the holiday shopping season kicks into
gear.
The restaurant action, it seems, is on Bainbridge Island.
Recently chef and food writer Greg Atkinson announced that he would
open a restaurant on the island. Kitsap Sun’s reporter Rachel
Pritchett
talked with him about it for a story on Monday. By Wednesday,
news had surfaced that Hitchcock, whose locally focused fine dining
fare has been lauded by area food critics, may expand into the
space next door,
according to Bainbridge Conversation’s Tristan Baurick.
At Poulsbo’s farmers market on Saturday, Chef Tomas Nevarez,
owner of the in-home chef instruction company Simmer Down will
demonstrate creating a meal with locally harvested foods.
At Bainbridge Farmers Market, fstopcafé will offer a coffee
roasting demonstration and tea tastings and a talk on tea.
Other Northwest News
Seattle Beerfest
started Friday. The annual, often crowded, convention for beer
geeks at Seattle Center promises 130 brews on tap. It opens at noon
Saturday and Sunday. Cost is $25
I missed this last week, but apparently of note is that
Seattle’s food scene is better than Portland’s,
according to Sunset Magazine, which pitted top cities against
each other. Hmmm, I envision a Portlandia episode in the
making.
And now, I’m cutting this short so I can get to …
Fourth of July
Northwest weather guru
Cliff Mass predicts that the holiday will get off to a cloudy
start, but will sun up by the afternoon with temperatures in the
mid-70s. That means, of course, prime grilling
weather. Every food magazine out there has grilling guides
and suggestions.
Personally, I’m not a fan of making all the food red, white and
blue (that’s what decorations are for), but there are some more
subtle colored-food touches such as red, white and blue potatoes as
suggested by Bainbridge Farmers Market, or maybe a little
blueberry, raspberry cobbler.
Coincidentally, as the Sea Life blog’s Jeff Adams
reminded readers, this weekend also is open to crabbing season
and “crabs are as Northwest’erican as espresso and apple pie,” he
said. You can grill crab, though some suggest that (after cleaning
it, of course) that you lightly wrap it in foil. Crab can be easy
to overcook, so be gentle.
From the Food Life recipe archives (which I realize is a bit
anemic), I can suggest
Peruvian kebabs with roasted yellow pepper sauce, perhaps
accompanied by
grilled corn on the cob and for dessert,
grilled nectarines with berry sauce, though blueberries may
make a more seasonally friendly accompaniment than
blackberries.
Also of note from the fine food publications out there, Saveur
magazine this year offered a
grilling guide that included a half dozen barbecue sauce
recipes from Dr. Pepper sauce to Carolina gold, briskets and hush
puppy or pickled sides (holy wow, why aren’t I eating right now?!).
Southern Living boasts the
“ultimate” grilling guide. And for those who want fewer
calories, Cooking Light also has a Fourth
of July recipe compilation.
As always, fell free to share any other suggestions you have for
celebratory eating on the Fourth! Hope you all eat (and/or drink)
well and stay safe!
Something I apparently missed in last week’s food news roundup
is the first of several educational farm walks hosted by WSU Kitsap
Extension.
Here’s the press release:
Beginning June 27th at 6:00pm at School Bell Farm in Port
Orchard, WSU Kitsap Small Farms Team hosts HOT SUMMER NIGHTS, a
series of education farm walks to showcase the bounty of
sustainable, small acreage farms.
Monday, June 27th – Small Acreage Livestock at School Bell Farm,
9795 SE Horizon Lane Port Orchard, WA 98367
All farm walks run from 6:00 – 8:00pm and are open to
individuals and children over 12 years of age. The cost is $15 per
family and pre-registration is requested. You can register online
at kitsap.wsu.edu or at the
gate! For more information on HOT SUMMER NIGHTS please contact
Diane Fish at 360-337-7026 or by email at dfish@wsu.edu.